Heartbeat
by Avamys Write
Summary: Because everyone's heart doesn't beat the same. Oneshot, Steve/Nat, Major character death


**A/N: Starts from Captain America: The Winter Soldier to Avengers: Age of Ultron and beyond. Cap/Widow, character death.**

 **Please review!**

Her heart races as the telltale beeping of the tracer fades out, replaced by the unmistakable booms of the explosions and crashes. Then the silence sweeps in, and all the screaming merges into the background...

Headquarters and Tricarriers are going down, but she couldn't care less, not now.

If possible, her heart speeds up as the computer traces the last transmissions, locating _him_ in a brook.

She remembers his past, _how could she not_ , and her mind quickly fills up with all the possibilities.

Trauma is no stranger to anyone. Especially not her.

* * *

He doesn't think she's ever gone that fast in a car before. He doesn't think _anyone's_ gone that fast in a car before. But then again, he's only known her for a day or two, so who is he to judge?

Well, she is going at a mad speed of 350 mph in a busy city centre taking sharp turns and speeding down slopes and miraculously avoiding head-on traffic…

He grips his seatbelt tightly and checks again that his wings are still attached.

And, for the billionth time in his life (he hasn't actually counted), he clasps his hands and closes his eyes, and he prays.

He's done all this before, but this time, the real emotion is there.

He doesn't feel like it's routine; like he's a robot.

* * *

She can't be more relieved to see his chest rising and falling as he lies there on the ground.

She spies Barnes slinking away, but she can't be bothered, not at the moment.

And Wilson understands, as he pulls out a med kit and starts to assess the brave soldier.

She may have gotten injured and patched up many times, but Sam's the expert in this field.

She's never trusted or admired someone so much.

* * *

He feels the heavy thud of his heart as he groans and blinks.

"You gave us quite a scare there." Sam remarks quietly.

She doesn't say anything, just stands there, but her still bleeding wounds and messy hair tells him all that he needs to know.

"Thank you." he says, then scans over the two of them. "You ought to get checked out."

"Where? Headquarters is down, and there's no one out there who likes me all that much."

 _And no one I trust…_

But she is amused, as seen by the slight tug of her lips.

And his heart speeds up.

* * *

They are drunk, and they know it.

"You know this thing _Pa...pu...pepper doesss_?" Tony slurs.

"I dunno, by I _shore_ don't _wannnn_ to know." Clint replies, laughing.

Natasha throws her head back and downs another shot.

"Yeah, _Law...Lo...Laura's_ a _dearrr_."

They look like a bunch of drunk idiots, but really they're just people drinking to numb the pain.

But hey, they're drinking together.

The calm atmosphere has everyone's heartbeat at a slow, comfortable rate.

Because their hearts are content.

* * *

Clint fusses around his collar and tie as beads of sweat drip down his forehead.

Natasha puts a hand on his shoulder, and she already feels his erratic heartbeat.

"Calm down." she says. "I still don't get why you are so dressed up."

"It's her mom's sixtieth birthday!"

"So a family gathering."

"One with her paranoid father who hates me! The one who yelled at me for wearing jeans!"

"Every father has the instinct to protect their daughter, he's just not adjusted to you yet."

Then Laura comes in, dressed like an angel, and he has this giddy smile again as his heartbeat returns to normal.

* * *

"No!"

She sits up quickly, hand sweeping to her gun as she aims it at the intruders…

"Nat! It's us!"

After a split second of recognition, she relaxes and lowers the gun.

"You want to talk?" Steve asks gently.

"I'm fine."

Nothing unexpected.

But Tony isn't fooled.

Jarvis tells him that her heartbeat is at 140.

So they take turns staying up with her until she tires herself out and finally falls asleep.

* * *

He grasps her wrist and neck, tightly but not violently, as he desperately feels for a thump, a beat.

But it's no use.

Tony is scanning for any signs of life as Thor rushes to Asgard to search for the best healers and Sam attaches an AED to her bruised and cut chest.

The deep gash across her torso and the flow of red on her head are hard to miss.

* * *

"At least she went doing what she wanted to."

He glares.

His knuckles turn white and his face heats up.

'You know very well, from all the times you hacked SHIELD files, where she came from. How _dare_ you-"

Tony cuts him off.

"I'm not talking about the fighting, Steve. I'm talking about fighting _with you_."

Silence.

Then Thor lays a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Not all of our heart beat the same, Steve."

"But hers...well...she went out with a bang." Clint says, tears trickling.

"And she'll always be remembered here." Wanda says, eyes flicking down to his chest.

* * *

Soon, his heart joins her as it slows and stops.

They weren't together in life, but their hearts found each other in death, and hopefully, _beyond_.


End file.
